Advertising Ideas for Your Startup

Advertising Ideas for Your Startup

As the owner of a startup, one of your primary goals will be to identify your target audience and find ways to introduce your services or products to them. You could have the best service or products on the market, but without a steady stream of new clients and customers, your business could fail if you are unable to bring in new clients. To best advertise your startup you will need to combine face-to-face interaction with online and traditional marketing. Here’s how to begin:

Create an Online Presence

Creating an online presence is imperative to staying competitive in any industry. There are a multitude of ways you can create an online presence, including creating a website that is mobile compatible and creating a social media presence. Once you have created these venues you want to find ways to market them and drive targeted traffic to your online profiles. If this is not a strength of yours you can hire an online marketing agency. Make sure to add your websites and primary social media accounts to your business card and all advertising.

Reach Out to Your Community

Becoming an active member of your community is valuable for creating awareness, networking, and supporting the causes you believe in. To reach out in your community you can begin by attending professional networking events. Keep in mind when attending these events that you want to attempt to open doors for other business owners, just as you hope they will open doors for you. You can become a member of your local Chamber of Commerce, and you and your staff can help volunteer and organize chamber events. You can also sponsor local nonprofits and community events that your target audience frequents.

Offer Referral Incentives

Word-of-mouth will always be one of the most valuable ways you can build your business. While your regular customers are likely to refer others without an incentive, an incentive for your broader customer base will keep you at the top of their minds. Your incentive could be anything from free or discounted service and products to gift cards to a local restaurant or retailer. Adding a personal touch to your referral thank you like a handwritten note, a card, a personal email, or a phone call, will let your client know how much you value and appreciate their continued support.

Create Cohesive Marketing Materials

When it comes to your business cards, brochures, and print marketing campaigns you want to ensure that your marketing materials are cohesive. While you want to make sure that you are not running the same ads over and over again, they should still all have a consistent look, feel, and message. You should also create a slogan and communicate a quantifiable value that you provide and makes you stand out from your competitors.

Advertising your startup will be a constant objective over the years, however its role in your first few years is vital to get your business up and running and off the ground. As the owner of a startup you will need to be the primary public figure, but there many opportunities in which your key players can assist with advertising online, off-line, and in person.